SRI LANKA

Introduction to Sri Lanka

1 ) General information

Sri Lanka is an island situated just below India , that is why we often say that it is a tear cried by India , or bead at the ear of Asia.

Its area is nearly 65000 km² which is equivalent to a ninth of France , and its population is about 20 millions people.

The currency is the rupee , 1 € equals one hundred fifteen rupees.

2 ) History

The original habitants of Sri Lanka come from India. They first gathered in the North they they installed near the actual city of Colombo .

In 1505 ( fifteen o five ) , the Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka and gave another name to the island : Ceylan. They developped trade and etablished commercial places, but they stayed on the coast, near Colombo.

Then , the Netherlands arrived , in the seventeen century , folowed by the British in 1796 ( seventeen ninety six ) . The English colonists stayed in Ceylan during nearly 150 ( one hundred fifty ) years and propagated their culture . For example , the national sport of Sri Lanka is cricket. They also developped a good system of plantations ( we will talk about that later ).

In 1948 ( nineteen forty eight ) , Ceylan became a independant country but it still in Commonwealth , until it became a republic in 1972,

Now this country is a normal democraty with a president , a prime minister and a governement.

3 ) Main religions & cultures

The main population of Sri Lanka is the cinghalese population . They have their own language and alphabet , they are buddhist and live in the center and in the south of the country. The legend says that they come from Lions ( cinghalese means «  we are lions «  ) ,

Then they are the Tamoul , in the north of the island . They are hindouist , and they also have their own language.

Muslims are part of an important minority , specialised in trade and fishing.

The flag of Sri Lanka is very interesting because it represents the three main populations : with the red background we can see a lion , with a sword , orange is the colour of Tamoul and green is for Muslims :

Ressources

1 ) Agriculture

Agriculture is the main way for Sri lanka to earn money . Its good developpment is due to the favorable climate and to the nice situation of the island , on an important sea way.

In the center of the island , british have planted tea everywhere . The abrupt slopes of the mountains are very good for the tea because the water can circulate , like this it doesn't saturate the fileds . The low slopes are used for the culture of the hevea , while the plains are used to cultivate coconuts.

2 ) Mineral

Buddhism